I recently moved to Germany and I am thinking of doing Monaco 70.3 in 2007 as a destination race. Perhaps I'll bring the family. I wanted to find out more about the race: course, accommodations, etc. Tell me more.
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Re: Monaco Race report [Castalia]
[ In reply to ]
September 5, 2006
2006 Monaco Half Ironman race report
My brother John and I arrived a couple days prior to get acclimated to time and to drive the bike course. We rented a scooter, as it was cheaper and more fun.
Nothing I did in preparation for this race was even near what I was about to see. Our trip through the 56 miles was awesome and scary. The up hills and cut backs were relentless. The roads are very narrow and there aren’t any guardrails to keep you from falling off the cliffs.
The bike portion map had a graph with elevation change at each mile mark but did not justify how brutal the bike course really was. At one point on the scooter ride, I turned to ask my brother if this was half or a full IM as the ride took so long. I thought I might have overlooked that this was a full IM.
Race morning! The swim start was a two lap Australian style were you exit the water after the first loop and run around a cone on the beach and dive back in for the second loop.
The sun wasn’t going to be up until after the swim so it was very dark. It was a mass start with the pro’s in front of the age groupers. The gun went off and all 690 athletes raced into the Mediterranean Ocean. I was freaked out right away as I swam over an underwater camera guy that was 15 feet down filming. I tried to stay to the inside of the triangle to stay out of the mess of triathletes. As far as contact in the water goes, this was the toughest swim I have ever done. Contact the entire swim. People were actually grabbing my legs and pulling me back and under the water. This was a constant thing. I was kicking people as hard as I could (and getting contact) and at one point turned around and basically wrestled someone because they wouldn’t let go of my legs. Another obstacle in the water was the man-o-wars that were all over the place. I swam right over a big one on the first lap. This was my first sub 30 minute 1.2 of my life, COOL!
Transitions were long as there was quite a long run to get your bike after you left the changing tent. I was looking forward to the bike as I had trained my butt off this year. I brought my road bike, as TT bikes aren’t practical on a course like this. The climb up the French Alps started ˝ a mile into the bike. The climbs and cutbacks were brutal. I think I hit my downshift lever 25 times in the first 5 miles looking for a smaller gear. I recall looking down at my computer: 5.8 miles in 45 minutes, it is going to be a long 56. The first downhill was long and twisted through the mountains. I rode the brakes to keep my speed below 40mph. I was terrified at times. In my triathlon experience, brakes were only used when you had to stop at the dismount line at the end of the bike part. Here, braking was a major component of the race. You go up 850 feet, now you have to descend down on slippery roads with traffic and hairpin switch backs. The muscles in my forearms that help me squeeze the brakes were killing me. They were actually fatiguing to the point of not working the way I wanted them to work. I can honestly say that there were some descents that I was not in control of my bike anymore. I thought I was going down multiple times. I was begging for an uphill! My competition, which I could hang with on the up hills, made me look like a little girl on the descents. It was obvious that most of these guys I was riding with (Jean-Paul, Marcelle, Oscar, Roberto, Jean-Claude, Christian [names were on your bib]) had experience on the descents. I could slap all these guys on the flats so it was an exciting race. My coach (Jen Harrison) told me to ride with-in myself on the first half and to go all out on the second half. Well, at mile 30 I was going to start riding hard. I believe I have come a long way. I have put in the time and effort. It is up to each individual to race smart. I was racing smart. I was eating, drinking and listening to my coaches advise. I rounded a sharp corner in a slight up hill to see there was an aid station there. I quickly grabbed my almost empty water bottle to throw it to make room for a fresh one. I don’t really know what happened. The water bottle slipped somehow and it fell and hit the valve stem on my front rim, which let the air out of my tire instantly. I thought I was having a bad dream. I stopped, put my head in my aero bars and tried to wake up. I could not believe what had just happened.
I had come to the conclusion to not bring a spare tubular and Co2 with me on this race as I have on all races previously, because in the past 12 years of competing in triathlons, I have never had a flat and have always had a spare and Co2 with me.
I kept repeating, “I can’t believe this is happening.” No one at this aid station had a pump or a tube or anything. I don’t believe you are allowed outside help any way. My race was over. The swag vans that bring in athlete’s that had crashed, broke down, or quit wait until the last biker is on his/her way in to collect everyone. I was freezing as it was raining up here and my body temp was dropping now that I had stopped. I had decided that my race was over and I was going to DNF. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and sulk. An official and some race support stopped to see if they could help. No one had what I needed. This happened near a neighborhood in the Alps. I, and some of the aid station workers, ran up in the neighborhood to go house to house to see if anyone had a pump or something. Someone brought a basketball pump out. I was desperate and even tried this. Then a motorcycle stopped and brought out a can of “fix a flat.” He insisted in his broken English that it wouldn’t fit my valve. I had to beg him to try. It screwed right on. He sprayed the can into my tubular and this white foam went all over. It was coming out between the rim and the tubular where there were weak points. He was speaking French but I understood that I needed to wait for this stuff to dry and it will start to fill the gaps where the air was leaking from the tire. We waited 15-20 minutes and put more “fix a flat” in. It was still coming out but not as bad. We waited again for 20 minutes and holy jumping French toast the tire and rim were holding air. It was only around 25-30 pounds as this can of stuff was for a motorcycle tire but is was something. I now was forced to ride my bike 26 miles with hardly any air in the front tire. I thanked everyone that had helped me and set off down the descents. It was ugly. I could feel the tire folding and coming off the rim. I rode with my weight over the back tire to save my front rim. This sucked. I was so mad. I just followed the IM signs on the road as I made my way back in. I stopped to try and put in more of the “fix a flat” that I had with me in my back pocket only to let out pressure. Now I was really mad. I started riding again. A little while later I came upon an accident at a cutback and asked the guy trying to fix his bike if I could use his hand pump. In an attempt to put it on my valve I let out even more pressure. I couldn’t get this guys pump to work. Now I am screwed. I have 15-20 pounds of pressure left and I have to make the accent and decent over the mountain to get back. I changed my mind about quitting and decided to finish even if I was last. Coming back in to transition I could see that I was among the last 40% left on the bike course. I saw my brother right away. He had a look on his face like, “What the hell, where have you been?” I told him what had happened and that I would see him at the finish. The run was a 4 lap flat run with a little hill at the turn around. A little hill for them out there is not what we call a little hill. This was the biggest hill on a run course I have ever seen. It was the “beast” at Lake Geneva’s course only steeper and 4 times as long. But, that was ok. I was running on anger, which is actually a fast fuel! I had a chance to run with some really fast guys who were on their final laps and I was just starting. What I wanted most was to just finish and bring home a sweet finishers medal. The finish line was among the nicest I have ever seen. I crossed the finish line in 5:57. It felt more like 6:57. I PR’ed in the swim and run and learned a big lesson: Being prepared for a race includes so many facets. I was smart in my preparation, execution, nutrition, game plan and my mental game, but stupid by not covering my, “what if list.” I didn’t want the extra weight on my bike that a spare tire and Co2 cartridge would add because of the climbs and it cost me a Kona slot. I wasted 45-55 minutes on the hill trying to fix my flat and another who knows how long stopping to try and get more air pressure so I can limp in this bike in the last 26 miles.
I will never make this mistake again.
One last thing: In the hotel room, I decided to put my pump on my front tire to see what pressure it read. As soon as I pushed the pump head on the valve, the valve broke off.
Swim 29:50
Bike 3:45
Run 1:37
Total 5:57
We stayed at The Meridian, the host hotel. It was nice. Practice your descents!
"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" MLK
2006 Monaco Half Ironman race report
My brother John and I arrived a couple days prior to get acclimated to time and to drive the bike course. We rented a scooter, as it was cheaper and more fun.
Nothing I did in preparation for this race was even near what I was about to see. Our trip through the 56 miles was awesome and scary. The up hills and cut backs were relentless. The roads are very narrow and there aren’t any guardrails to keep you from falling off the cliffs.
The bike portion map had a graph with elevation change at each mile mark but did not justify how brutal the bike course really was. At one point on the scooter ride, I turned to ask my brother if this was half or a full IM as the ride took so long. I thought I might have overlooked that this was a full IM.
Race morning! The swim start was a two lap Australian style were you exit the water after the first loop and run around a cone on the beach and dive back in for the second loop.
The sun wasn’t going to be up until after the swim so it was very dark. It was a mass start with the pro’s in front of the age groupers. The gun went off and all 690 athletes raced into the Mediterranean Ocean. I was freaked out right away as I swam over an underwater camera guy that was 15 feet down filming. I tried to stay to the inside of the triangle to stay out of the mess of triathletes. As far as contact in the water goes, this was the toughest swim I have ever done. Contact the entire swim. People were actually grabbing my legs and pulling me back and under the water. This was a constant thing. I was kicking people as hard as I could (and getting contact) and at one point turned around and basically wrestled someone because they wouldn’t let go of my legs. Another obstacle in the water was the man-o-wars that were all over the place. I swam right over a big one on the first lap. This was my first sub 30 minute 1.2 of my life, COOL!
Transitions were long as there was quite a long run to get your bike after you left the changing tent. I was looking forward to the bike as I had trained my butt off this year. I brought my road bike, as TT bikes aren’t practical on a course like this. The climb up the French Alps started ˝ a mile into the bike. The climbs and cutbacks were brutal. I think I hit my downshift lever 25 times in the first 5 miles looking for a smaller gear. I recall looking down at my computer: 5.8 miles in 45 minutes, it is going to be a long 56. The first downhill was long and twisted through the mountains. I rode the brakes to keep my speed below 40mph. I was terrified at times. In my triathlon experience, brakes were only used when you had to stop at the dismount line at the end of the bike part. Here, braking was a major component of the race. You go up 850 feet, now you have to descend down on slippery roads with traffic and hairpin switch backs. The muscles in my forearms that help me squeeze the brakes were killing me. They were actually fatiguing to the point of not working the way I wanted them to work. I can honestly say that there were some descents that I was not in control of my bike anymore. I thought I was going down multiple times. I was begging for an uphill! My competition, which I could hang with on the up hills, made me look like a little girl on the descents. It was obvious that most of these guys I was riding with (Jean-Paul, Marcelle, Oscar, Roberto, Jean-Claude, Christian [names were on your bib]) had experience on the descents. I could slap all these guys on the flats so it was an exciting race. My coach (Jen Harrison) told me to ride with-in myself on the first half and to go all out on the second half. Well, at mile 30 I was going to start riding hard. I believe I have come a long way. I have put in the time and effort. It is up to each individual to race smart. I was racing smart. I was eating, drinking and listening to my coaches advise. I rounded a sharp corner in a slight up hill to see there was an aid station there. I quickly grabbed my almost empty water bottle to throw it to make room for a fresh one. I don’t really know what happened. The water bottle slipped somehow and it fell and hit the valve stem on my front rim, which let the air out of my tire instantly. I thought I was having a bad dream. I stopped, put my head in my aero bars and tried to wake up. I could not believe what had just happened.
I had come to the conclusion to not bring a spare tubular and Co2 with me on this race as I have on all races previously, because in the past 12 years of competing in triathlons, I have never had a flat and have always had a spare and Co2 with me.
I kept repeating, “I can’t believe this is happening.” No one at this aid station had a pump or a tube or anything. I don’t believe you are allowed outside help any way. My race was over. The swag vans that bring in athlete’s that had crashed, broke down, or quit wait until the last biker is on his/her way in to collect everyone. I was freezing as it was raining up here and my body temp was dropping now that I had stopped. I had decided that my race was over and I was going to DNF. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and sulk. An official and some race support stopped to see if they could help. No one had what I needed. This happened near a neighborhood in the Alps. I, and some of the aid station workers, ran up in the neighborhood to go house to house to see if anyone had a pump or something. Someone brought a basketball pump out. I was desperate and even tried this. Then a motorcycle stopped and brought out a can of “fix a flat.” He insisted in his broken English that it wouldn’t fit my valve. I had to beg him to try. It screwed right on. He sprayed the can into my tubular and this white foam went all over. It was coming out between the rim and the tubular where there were weak points. He was speaking French but I understood that I needed to wait for this stuff to dry and it will start to fill the gaps where the air was leaking from the tire. We waited 15-20 minutes and put more “fix a flat” in. It was still coming out but not as bad. We waited again for 20 minutes and holy jumping French toast the tire and rim were holding air. It was only around 25-30 pounds as this can of stuff was for a motorcycle tire but is was something. I now was forced to ride my bike 26 miles with hardly any air in the front tire. I thanked everyone that had helped me and set off down the descents. It was ugly. I could feel the tire folding and coming off the rim. I rode with my weight over the back tire to save my front rim. This sucked. I was so mad. I just followed the IM signs on the road as I made my way back in. I stopped to try and put in more of the “fix a flat” that I had with me in my back pocket only to let out pressure. Now I was really mad. I started riding again. A little while later I came upon an accident at a cutback and asked the guy trying to fix his bike if I could use his hand pump. In an attempt to put it on my valve I let out even more pressure. I couldn’t get this guys pump to work. Now I am screwed. I have 15-20 pounds of pressure left and I have to make the accent and decent over the mountain to get back. I changed my mind about quitting and decided to finish even if I was last. Coming back in to transition I could see that I was among the last 40% left on the bike course. I saw my brother right away. He had a look on his face like, “What the hell, where have you been?” I told him what had happened and that I would see him at the finish. The run was a 4 lap flat run with a little hill at the turn around. A little hill for them out there is not what we call a little hill. This was the biggest hill on a run course I have ever seen. It was the “beast” at Lake Geneva’s course only steeper and 4 times as long. But, that was ok. I was running on anger, which is actually a fast fuel! I had a chance to run with some really fast guys who were on their final laps and I was just starting. What I wanted most was to just finish and bring home a sweet finishers medal. The finish line was among the nicest I have ever seen. I crossed the finish line in 5:57. It felt more like 6:57. I PR’ed in the swim and run and learned a big lesson: Being prepared for a race includes so many facets. I was smart in my preparation, execution, nutrition, game plan and my mental game, but stupid by not covering my, “what if list.” I didn’t want the extra weight on my bike that a spare tire and Co2 cartridge would add because of the climbs and it cost me a Kona slot. I wasted 45-55 minutes on the hill trying to fix my flat and another who knows how long stopping to try and get more air pressure so I can limp in this bike in the last 26 miles.
I will never make this mistake again.
One last thing: In the hotel room, I decided to put my pump on my front tire to see what pressure it read. As soon as I pushed the pump head on the valve, the valve broke off.
Swim 29:50
Bike 3:45
Run 1:37
Total 5:57
We stayed at The Meridian, the host hotel. It was nice. Practice your descents!
"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" MLK
Re: Monaco Race report [Castalia]
[ In reply to ]
Wow, It sounds like I'll need to take the road bike. I'm mostly interested in finishing for my first half. I've been doing sprints and olys for several years. I'm glad you made it to the finish.
Great report. Reports with good descriptions of the course are the most enjoyable to read. That race sounds tough.